“No, I’m not seeing where this is … wait! If you separate the actions, what will you be when you’re in between? If you’re not human and not a cat, what will you be? Energy?”
Missy nodded and said, “Exactly! In either form I always weigh about the same so I end up at the same amount of mass. But, in between? While that shimmer of light and burst of energy are happening? What if I’m simply in spirit form? I’ll have all my energy but without any of my mass? Do you think that might be possible?”
“Hey, Einstein’s theory says energy equals mass times the speed of light squared which is why you get such a huge amount of energy being released when converting mass to energy. I sort of figured maybe your light and energy stuff was because maybe you converted a tiny amount of your mass during your Shift. It wouldn’t need to be much mass being converted to energy …”
“Well, that’s why I’m a bit nervous, Tracy. If I try to separate the two actions, maybe I’ll just explode like a bomb and wipe out half the state of New York.”
“Wow! But, since you watched Carlos take longer, you’re thinking you might maybe try to do it slower? Maybe feel your way into this, without blowing up the rest of the world?”
“Sure! Maybe my spirit form can keep it all together, you know? My energy? So there’s no big bang?”
“Obviously someone needs to watch this … in case you need that someone to talk you through it. What has Mike said?” Tracy knew Missy shared all her thoughts and feelings with Mike with an almost continuous and constant flow, getting his feedback. They were now addicted to one another and when separated by more than about five hundred miles, the distance their bond could manage, they suffered.
“He’s really concerned and not very happy about the possible risks. But, if I’m going to experiment, he agrees there’s probably less risk if he’s not with me. Who knows how our bond might affect things? It’s better if I do this without him right here. Later, once I’ve learned what I can do?”
Tracy nodded and sighed. “I get it. I do! Okay? Go ahead. I’ll watch.” She knew Missy would do anything for her, if their situations were reversed. And, she simply couldn’t imagine things not working out okay. If Missy thought she could go slow and avoid self-destructing, taking her out in the process? She trusted her.
Missy realized what a total commitment Tracy was making, willingly risking her own life. There weren’t any words she could say. They were safe inside their room from being interrupted by anyone, due to the lateness of the hour. She pushed a towel along the bottom of her door so no light would be visible. Then, she took her clothes off, removed her earrings and crouched down on all fours in the middle of their room. Tracy was seated on her bunk, watching.
Whenever Missy Shifted, that had always required her going to a special place in her mind and then exercising her will. She had many compartments in her mind and had learned to use them. She also had tremendous willpower which she’d learned to channel and control. This time, she focused on doing her Change in two distinct steps rather than all at once in one step.
She Shifted. As always, there was the shimmer of light and burst of energy. But, this time … just after her human form disappeared and before her cat form became apparent … there was a pause. It was very short but somehow, the complete act seemed to take several seconds rather than being instantaneous and the pause in between was noticeable. Missy wasn’t sure exactly what she felt during that but she’d really worked at making the process be in two distinct steps. When she was done, she stared at Tracy.
Tracy exclaimed, “Wow! That was really something! I think you did it. And, I can’t say how exactly, but it felt different. Whatever you did? It was different.” Tracy’s ability as a witch to experience energy being used was something she now was very familiar and comfortable with. And, Missy had definitely done something.
Missy waited a few minutes, enjoying how it was to be in her cat form. She loved her dual nature and considered herself truly blessed to be a werecat. She purred at Tracy, hopped up onto her own bunk, but then after only a few minutes, she returned to the center of their room again. Keeping the experience she’d just had fresh in her mind, she prepared herself to again do everything. And, this time, she’d focus on being in that in between state, that “out-of-body” state, for just a bit longer.
Tracy watched as Missy once again Shifted. There was the shimmer of light. But then … nothing. No burst of energy. And, no Missy. The floor was empty. She was experiencing something, as before, but as the seconds continued to tick away in her mind, she realized Missy was truly gone. Just as though she’d vaporized into thin air, her friend had managed to dissolve into nothingness.
A very long sixty seconds later, there was a burst of energy and Missy reappeared. She was once again crouched down on all fours and slowly she stood up straight. She reached over and slid a tee shirt on, one of Mike’s which she typically slept in every night, whenever possible.
“How was that? Was I gone long?”
“That was the most incredible, scary thing I’ve ever seen. Missy, you did it! You really did it! It seemed like forever before you came back. What was it like for you?”
“Different … I’m not sure how to explain it. I was here the entire time. I actually watched you … I wish we’d recorded how you looked, Tracy. Your face … your expressions!” Missy laughed. “I knew I was still me but … how can I help you relate to this? I noticed how I wasn’t breathing but I wasn’t holding my breath, okay? I didn’t need to. I didn’t have any body. I didn’t need any air. My senses were completely gone. When I say I watched you, what I mean was I experienced you. I knew what your face looked like. But, it wouldn’t be accurate to say I actually saw you. I was here and you were here and I was able to just know what you looked like and everything, only … no sight, no sound, no taste, no smell and no feeling anything. Just knowing everything.”
“That really is not helping me understand. But never mind me. What about you? Are you really okay? Everything feels normal? Missy, you were gone!”
Missy laughed and twirled around. “I think I’m all back in one piece again. Of course, as for how I feel? I am so starved. More than ever! Being invisible takes a lot of energy or something. I know I need to eat. I wouldn’t want to try this again until I’ve had some food. I’d better get my emergency stash out … this qualifies as an emergency!” She went over to her things and brought out some dried food items she’d been saving for just such an occasion, carefully hidden away.
“Okay, I guess you’re all right. You can eat so you must be okay.” Tracy giggled. “Were you able to control how long you stayed invisible? Or, did you have to blink back in here when you did, without any choice?”
Missy took a bite of a piece of beef jerky and then said, “It was my choice … I’m still Shifting but now I’m doing that in steps. Once I was able to do it as two distinct steps? I was able to decide when I’d take that second step to finish Shifting and come back. I’m pretty sure I can go for lots longer. Lots, lots longer. I’m gonna have to practice that, of course. Please don’t tell anyone else about this. I’m sharing with Mike, obviously, but no one else.”
“What about John? Missy, I can’t keep this from him. Don’t ask me to do that. You know I can’t keep anything secret from him.”
“Oh, you can share with my brother. Just make him promise not to tell anyone else. I’m not ready to let “P” Branch know about this yet.” Missy knew Tracy was bonded with John and could no more hide things from him than she herself could hide things from Mike. She and Tracy were witches and once a witch bonded with his or her soulmate? They were able to fully develop with their powers reaching maximum potential and their abilities as a witch increasing exponentially. But, they were one with their mate and shared everything.
“Good. Okay. So, let’s see … you don’t need eyes to see or ears to hear or your nose to smell things … but, you can still see and hear and scent everything, same as before?”
“Better than
before, actually. Even with all my enhanced senses, I can’t experience things to the extent I can when I’m OOB. That’s Oh-Oh-Be.”
“Oh-Oh-Be? Let me guess … your acronym for out-of-body, right? Jeez!”
Missy giggled and said, “Of course! And, OOBE will be when I’m having an out-of-body-experience.”
“How come you don’t explode like a nuclear weapon? Any ideas on that?”
“Well, we’re witches and as you’ve helped me understand it, that means we can use and control energy. When I’m in my spirit form? I’m still me. I can still control my energy. Next time? I’m gonna try doing some stuff with my telekinesis. I just know that’s going to be as strong as ever … maybe even stronger!”
“Oh, goody! As if watching you make things float through the air wasn’t bad enough … now I’ll have to put up with invisible you making things float through the air!”
“Oh, but think of all the fun we’ll have! Someday, I’ll go invisible and then we’ll let people think it’s you doing it! You know, making things float through the air! That’s the least I can do for all those times you’ve sent down lightning bolts while I pretended it was me doing that.” Missy laughed and Tracy could only join her.
Sometimes … being a couple of crazy witches was really a lot of fun!
Chapter Four
Oct 12, 2019
Donald Quiqby stood at attention as the two upperclass cadets left his room. Once he was certain they were far enough away he turned to Andrew Poarch, his roommate, and said, “I can’t believe we didn’t get any demerits this time! Wow, I might actually have this afternoon free!” They had just passed one of the dreaded SAMI’s -- Saturday AM inspections -- which plebes frequently had to deal with. And, miracle of miracles, this time they’d passed, with everything being perfect.
Once a cadet had accumulated enough demerits, he or she would have to spend Saturday afternoon doing a walking tour as punishment, in full uniform carrying the M14 parade rifle, walking back and forth in the Central Area for hours. Donald had been doing walking tours every Saturday, since he was always getting demerits for one thing or another. The trivia which a plebe was required to know was endless and testing plebes was the favorite pastime for upperclass cadets.
While Donald worked very hard at always being prepared, he had been hampered by his inexperience dealing with females. Whenever any female cadet would dress him down, standing him at attention and demanding he tell the exact time until the next meal or rattle off the menu for that meal or recite the latest Army song correctly or whatever, he’d get flustered and either mess up his response or not use the proper protocol for speaking to upperclass cadets. He’d been accumulating so many demerits he’d lost hope of ever working them all off.
But, his team leader was Tracy McGonagle and she, along with Missy McCrea and their many friends, had actually been helping him. They’d joked about “desensitizing” him on how to answer to females. Especially those who were attractive or else well-endowed with big boobs. He still would get instantly aroused whenever he saw Tracy or Missy or especially that Kelsey Powers -- her rack was even more impressive than Missy’s -- but he was now able to ignore his throbbing erection and respond clearly and correctly whenever confronted by any female.
They had all found ways to teach him to cope, showing him mental tricks which they’d found would work and sharing lessons they’d learned from their own plebe experiences. And, they’d made certain he knew exactly how his room needed to appear for inspections, with every item in its proper place and both he and Andrew well prepared. Today was proof of that and he knew “the Quiqby girls”, as his roommate had started calling them, would indeed be proud.
Andrew said, “Ron and your dad will be glad to know you’re finally getting a handle on things here. Just don’t tell your dad about all the help your Quigby girls are giving you.” He started laughing as he knew all about Donald’s dad, a Sergeant Major who had convinced his two sons that women were nothing but a distraction in the military; they both had arrived at the academy with strong prejudices against all female cadets.
Donald’s brother Ronald was currently a firstie in his final year. Ronald had changed his views and was actually now a friend to both Tracy and Missy. Donald and Andrew knew there had been some history between them, with Ronald being company commander for the squad the two girls had been part of during Beast, but exact details of that history were not being shared by any of them.
“I wish you’d stop calling them my Quigby girls … I’ve started hearing that from a few of the other guys now. Besides, you have to admit they’ve helped you as well as me with how to pass these room inspections, right?”
“Yeah, all true, all true. But, none of the other plebes are getting all this attention the way you are. At first, I thought it was merely a favor to your brother. But, they’ve dedicated themselves to you with such obvious enthusiasm, clearly there’s a lot more going on. It’s as though they all think of you as their little brother!”
Just then Tracy appeared at their door, still open from when the inspectors had left. “I hear your room passed with flying colors today! That’s great … I’ll let the others know. Your sisters will be pleased!” She giggled, having obviously heard Andrew’s comment. “I want to see both of you guys out there this afternoon, cheering our women’s soccer team on to victory. No hiding here in your room to study”. She knew that’s exactly what Donald would do if she didn’t insist he come watch Missy play.
Andrew said, “Why me? You girls aren’t looking to add me to the family, are you?” He knew he could joke with Tracy while she was just visiting them in their room. Had they been anywhere else, he would first have followed protocol by asking, “Ma’am, may I ask a question?”
“You can’t escape, Andy. Us Quigby girls are all on to you now as well!” While she and Andrew laughed, poor Donald turned an even deeper shade of red. “Besides … have either of you ever watched my roommate in action out there during an actual game? Today’s a home game and you don’t want to miss this opportunity.”
-----
As it turned out, sitting in the stands watching the soccer game was a wonderful chance for Donald to relax and almost feel like a normal human being again. His brother Ron was there with Martin King, another firstie. Like himself, Ron also played on the West Point lacrosse team, which was the only other time Donald was ever able to enjoy himself. Life at the academy was very difficult, especially for plebes.
But, upperclass cadets didn’t bother hazing plebes while they were all watching any of the academy teams play and cadet protocols were relaxed. He was able to sit next to his brother and forget about problems and difficulties while they watched the game. He had noticed these girls during their practices, since the soccer and lacrosse fields abutted, but he’d never actually paid them much attention. And, he hadn’t realized Ron would be there.
“When did you start watching girls play soccer, Ron?”
“Until this year, I never did. But, Marty and I decided we had to see what all the buzz was about. We already knew what a freak Missy McCrea was, of course, but we decided we had to see her out here for ourselves. Just watch … you’ll see.” Ronald laughed and leaned forward, arms on his knees.
“I know she’s on the team. Why are you calling her a freak?”
Martin was seated on Ronald’s other side and when Ron ignored his brother, he spoke up. “It’s sort of a private joke, Don. McCrea thinks it’s funny and calls herself that whenever it’s only with one of us. But, don’t you ever call her that. And, don’t ever let any of her friends hear you say that about her either.”
Donald looked around and could see Tracy with a huge group of her classmates, which not only included all the so-called Quigby girls but several guys as well. He and Andrew had made a point of having her notice them when they’d first arrived. Now, after seeing such a large group of Missy admirers gathered there and hearing how his brother and Martin were describing her, his curiosity was fully piqued
. Yeah, he’d heard some crazy things about Missy McCrea but surely most of those things were greatly exaggerated.
Some he knew were not. Her marksmanship on both their Rifle Team and Combat Weapons Team was a matter of record. She’d broken all the earlier records and was constantly setting new ones every time she competed. But … that rumor about her actually proving herself in combat as a sniper that past summer? Killing three guys from twelve hundred meters while serving with a Special Forces A-Team over in Afghanistan? Surely that was merely part of the hype going around, with her being written up as one of the female soldiers serving in combat.
She did have those medals and the Combat Infantryman Badge. Until recently, women weren’t able to receive the CIB because it required actually being assigned to an infantry or Special Forces unit. But, women were now allowed in such units and some, like Missy, had managed to earn this badge. And she also had Jump Wings. She and Tracy had gone to jump school just before she’d resigned to go over to Afghanistan. Who does that, resigning to go be a common grunt, anyway? But, then she’d returned, just in time for the start of classes at the academy.
She and Tracy just seemed so normal, always nice to him and treating him like he was somehow special. It indeed had gotten embarrassing but as these past few weeks had gone by, things had definitely improved for him. And, those damn Quigby girls had made that happen. More and more, guys were asking him how they could get some of that. The magic. The special assistance. The girls had taken the target off his back.
So, he watched the game. And, he watched Missy.
Andrew said, “Holy shit, did you see what she just did?” Two opponents had tried to intentionally block Missy, willingly sacrificing themselves by charging in front of her at the same time. Both girls were large and it was obvious they had tried to take her out, colliding very hard, although they tried to make it appear an accident. But, Missy somehow plowed through and maintained control of the ball. Before the referee had a chance to declare a foul, Missy had raced down the field and then had kicked a perfect shot past the goalie, scoring for Army.
Missy Makes Mayhem (Missy the Werecat Book 5) Page 3